Cosmetic applicators have been used for years to scoop and spread cosmetics on the skin of people. It has been known that a cosmetic product that is good for people's skin is also good breeding ground for microorganisms; bacteria and fungus. Excessive amounts of bacteria and fungus can affect the cosmetic products in a number of ways; causing odors, destabilizing the emulsion, and causing color changes. Such microorganisms can also affect the consumer negatively in ways ranging from harmless itching of the skin to serious infection, and even blindness if the product is used around the eyes. Specifically, it has been widely known that sticking fingers inside cosmetic products causes contamination of the cosmetic products. Therefore, people have been recommended to avoid sticking their fingers inside cosmetic products, but to use cosmetic applicators to scoop out the cosmetic products.
In addition to the cosmetic products for adults, babies are often in need of ointment or cream for their diaper rash, infant acne, eczema, and other skin irritations. For the treatment of such skin irritations of babies, or just for addition of moisture on the babies' skin, it has been recommended for people in care of such babies to use an applicator, in order to apply any ointment or cream on babies to avoid any bacterial contamination. It is also recommended to completely clean the applicators with a cleansing liquid or soap, and to place it on a clean surface. However, the process of constantly cleaning and re-sterilizing the applicator, along with storing it on a clean surface, is not easy for many users. As a result, currently available applicators used for application of ointment or cream tend to become contaminated, and spread that contamination to the ointment or cream products. The result is an increased risk of causing irritation or infection on the skin being treated with contaminated ointment and/or a contaminated applicator.
Even though various types of applicators have been developed and used for scooping out cosmetic products of cream types or ointments, no applicators with a flexible tip sufficiently soft for spreading and application of the products on the delicate skin of babies have been developed. Since baby's skin is sensitive and delicate, scratches, infection or another skin irritation can be caused from application of ointment or cream, if such ointment or cream is applied by a rigid or porous applicator.
In light of the above, it would be advantageous to provide an ointment applicator treated with anti-microbial or anti-bacterial materials to reduce any cross-contamination between the user's fingers, ointment or cream container, the applicator, and the baby's skin where the ointment or cream is applied. It would also be advantageous to provide an ointment applicator which is equipped with a soft and flexible tip to prevent any harm which has typically/heretofore been caused on the babies' skin from the application of ointment or cream by currently available rigid applicators. It would be further advantageous to provide an ointment applicator which can be completely cleaned after each use and kept sterile between uses.